Mechanism for joining sheets



July 5, 1955 p O RAY 2,712,441

MECHANISM FOR JOINING SHEETS Filed June 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l TTOTINBY-I July 5, 1955 P. o. RAY

MECHANISM FOR JOINING SHEETS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8,

United States Patent '0 MECHANISM FER SOWING SHEETS Paul 0. Ray, Rockford, ill.

Application June 8, 195 5, Serial No, 435,330

13 Claims. {CL 270-58) This invention relates to a mechanism for attaching a series of cards or sheets together in overlapping relation and, more particularly, to a mechanism for forming the composite strip of overlapping cards by attaching one .or more tapes to the staggered cards, the tape having a side coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive to join the tape to the cards.

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel mechanism of the abovecharacter which automatically staggers the cards and joins them together in over.- lapping relation so that the cards need only be placed in a stack by the operator.

A more detailed object is to advance the tape across the bottom of the stack and to press the tape against the bottom card at a point between the edges of the card so that the tape advances the bottom card a predetermined distance before it engages and picks up the next card.

The invention also resides in the novel means for varying the amount of overlapping of the cards and in the means for insuring only one card leaves the stack at a time.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-..-..3

Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of .a series of cards joined together.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of a portion of the mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the cards as they are removed from the stack and joined to the strip.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the l ne 77 in Fig. 6. i

As shown .in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a device for joining together a plurality of sheets or cards 10. The latter may be rectangular in shape and be adapted to contain bookkeeping or accounting data with a marking identifying each card disposed along one edge portion 11 thereof (see Fig. 4). in storing cards of this type for future reference, it is desirable to connect a series of cards to.- gether in overlapping relation with the edge portion contaming-the identifying indicia exposed as shown in Fig. 4 The cards are joined together to form a composite strip it?- by one or more tapes 12 coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive material 13 and pressed against the backs of the cards. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 6, each tape engages and is sealed to the undersides of the gards at the marginal portion 14 on the back of the card at the end opposite the portion 11.

joined in this manner, they may be stored compactlyand, at the same time, each card may be identified easily .by the exposed indicia on the edge portion 11.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a novel mechanism for joining the cards together automatically so that a stack of cards are placed in overlapping relation and the tapes 12 are joined to the cards :to hold the latter together and form the composite strip lb This mechanism comprises a means for advancing each tape along a path which extends across the bottom of the stack with the pressure sensitive side of the tape iacing the stack so that the tape adheres to the terminal card and moves the latter edgewise out of the stack .thus exposing the next card which similarly is joined to and moved by the tape. Preferably, the mechanism also includes an element 15 which guides the tape into contact .with the card at a point spaced a predetermined distance from the edge of the terminal card so that the card is moved this distance before the next card is exposed to and contacted by the tape. Such spacing, therefore, dctermines the amount of overlapping of the successive cards.

In the present instance, the cards it to be joined :to- .gether are stacked loosely in a magazine 16 disposed on top of a supporting member 17. The latter comprises a fiat top of T-shape having a wide portion 13 (Fig. 2) extending across the center or" the assembly and a narrow leg 19 projecting rearwardly from the portion 18. Integral with and depending from the side edges of the leg .19 are side plates 29 (Fig. l) with narrow flanges 21 at their lower ends. The flanges are bolted to a flat :hori- ,zontal base .22 so that the member -17 and the mechanisms supportedthereby are mounted on the base through .the medium of the side plates. integral with the por- -tion .18 of the member 17 are depending flanges 23 and, for a purpose to be described later, these flanges project forwardly beyond the forward edge of the portion 18 to constitute spaced parallel arms 24.

The top portion 18 of the supporting member 17 forms the bottom wall of the magazine 16 while the sides of the latter are defined by upright posts 25 which are fastened to the wall 13 by screws 26 projecting through When the cards are flanges 27 on the posts. Preferably, the screws extend through transverse slots 28 (Fig. 2) in the flanges to permit the posts to be moved in or out to adjust the width 9f he magazine for different size cards.

To form the front wall of the magazine 16, a flat generally vertical plate 29 extends across the central portion of the bottom Wall 18. Flanges 3i projecting forwardly from the side edges of the plate extend down below the lower edge of the plate and straddle the flanges 23 to which they are attached by means of Wing bolts 31. The latter project through horizontal slots 32 in the flanges .39 to permit .the plate 29 to be adjusted back and forth according to the size of the cards 10. As illustrated in the drawings, the bottom wall 18 is inclined downwardly, the posts 25 and the plate 29 being normal to this wall, .so that the stack of cards rests against the plate and the cards are held down by a weight 33 on .top of the stack.

The lower edge of the plate 29 is spaced above the bottom magazine wall 18 to define an outlet opening 34 (Fig. 6) through which the cards iii are removed from the stack. In order that only one card may enter the opening 34 at a time, the plate 29 is mounted to be moved toward and away from the bottom wall to adjust the height of the opening to correspond to the thickness of the cards. Herein, this is achieved by pivoting the plate about the axis of the wing bolts 31. For this purpose, a screw 35 is threaded through an ear 36 projecting laterally from the flange 23 and abuts against the underside of a second ear 37 on the flange 39. Thus, by threading 'the wall 18. v

Preferably, a finger 33 (Fig. 6) projects into the opening and is formed with a friction surface which engages the next to the last card and holds this card in the magazine 16 untilit is attached to the tapes 12. Whilethis finger may take various forms, herein it is a band of rubber stretched around the central portion of the plate 29. The band 38 is in a depressed part 29 (Fig. 7) of the plate and the entire inner surface of the plate is covered with a thin sheet 39 of metal brazed or otherwise secured to the plate; The sheet 39 presents a smooth surface to the cards10 so that the latter advance uniformly toward the bottom of the magazine 16.

' Each tape 12 is unwound from a supply roll 40'mounted on the supporting member 17' and is advanced along a path which extends across the bottom of the stack of cards 11) in the magazine 16. The rolls 40 are loosely received 7 between washers 41' on bolts-:2 rigidwith and project- *ing outwardly. from the side plates 20 and are held'on the bolts'by wing nuts 43. The tapes are led upwardly from the supply rolls and around guide rollers, which constitute the'element 15, with the pressure sensitive sides of the tapes'facing upwardly. Each guide roller is journaled on the outside of a side plate immediately behind the bottom wall18 of the magazine 16 and projects slightly above this wall to bear against "the terminal card and press the tape against the latter. a i

The point at which the roller 15 presses the tape 12 against the card is spaced forwardly from the rearedge of the stack so that the card is advanced a distance corresponding to this spacing before the next card is contacted by the tape. In this way, the cards are staggered as shown in Fig. 4, the amount of overlap depending upon the position of the rollers 15 relative to the stack of cards. The

position may be varied by adjusting the front wall 29 of the magazine 16 back and forth to change the position of the stack or by shifting the guide rollers toward and away from the front wall. Thus, the rollers 15 may be positioned relative to the cards as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 5 in which case the tapes first contact the terminal cardat a point 44 spaced at distance a from the rear edge of the card. As a result, the card will be advanced this distance before the tape engages the next card so that a width of each card corresponding to the distance a will be exposed. By shifting either the guide rollers or the front magazine wall, the rollers may be made to assume-the position shown in broken lines.

'this path, the roll 46 is turned by a motor 47 mounted on the supporting member 17 beneath the magazine.

The motor turns the'feed roll through a suitable speed reducing gear train 48 and a belt 49. The latter extends around a smallpulley 50 fast on the shaft of the last gear of the train 48 and around a larger pulley 51 on the axle of the roll 46. The joined cards 10 and the tapes 12 are held in frictional driving engagement with the roll by two laterally spaced rubber belts 52 stretched around pulleys 53 journaled on the magazine 16 between the flanges V 30 and a horizontal roller 54 journaled between the arms 24 in front of the feed roll 46. The axle 55 of the roller 54 is received in slots 56 in the arms 24 so that the resiliency of the belts 52 draws the roller toward the guide roll. Thus, the belts bear down against the composite. strip 10 as the latter passes over the feed roll and holds 7 the strip in driving engagement with the latter.

In operation, the cards It} to be joined are" stacked in the magazine 16 with the weight 33 on top and the motor 47 is started. Due to the frictional engagement between the strip 10 and the feed roll 46, the strip advances along the top of the member 17 and over the feed roll. This unwinds and advances the tapes 12 and, since the tape is pressed against and adheres to the bottom card in the magazine, this card moves with the tapes and the leading edge of the card enters the opening '34. Because of friction the next card may'move forward slightly but is held by the finger 38, as shown in Fig. 6, until the trailing edge of the bottom card passes beyond the guide roller 15. At this time, thelatter presses the tape against the next card which then is advanced with the tapes through theopening 34, this being permitted since the thickness of the strip at the opening now is such as to permit the card to drop below the finger 38. The operation is repeated joining the cards successively to the tapes. In order to eliminate the necessity of threading the machine each time it is used, it is convenient to run a number of blank cards through at the end of each operation so asto' leave a strip extending between the magazine and the feed roll.

I claim as my invention:

l. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets comprising a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets and having an opening through one side thereof for the edgewise removal of the terminal sheet of said stack, means for supporting 'a tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof with the tape extending along a predetermined path across the end of said magazine and through said opening and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing said stack, a member holding saidtape in contact with the successive terminal sheets of said stack to join the sheets to the tape as the latter is advanced along said path, a flexible belt disposed-beyond said opening and extending along one side of said path, a guide disposed on the opposite side of said path and frictionally holding the sheets attached to said tape against said belt, and means driving said belt to advance the sheets and the tape along said path.

2. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets comprising a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets and having an opening through one side' thereof for the edgewise removal of the terminal sheet of said stack, means for supporting a tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof with the tape extending along a predetermined path across the end of said magazine and along said path.

through said opening and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape 'facing said stack, a member holding said tape contact with the successive terminal sheets of said stack to join the sheets to the tape as the latter is advanced along said path, and feeding elements disposed beyond,

said opening and on opposite sides of said path and operable to engage the sheets joined to said tape and advance the sheets and the tape along said path.

3. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets comprising a magazinefor receiving a stack of sheets and having 7 7 an opening through one side thereof for the edgewise removal of the terminal sheet of said stack, meansfor" supporting a tape having a pressure sensitive. adhesive on one side thereof with the tape extending along a prede- 4. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets overlapping relation comprising a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets and including a resilient finger disposed along one side thereof and spaced from the end of the magazine to define an opening for the edgewise removal of the terminal sheet of said stack, means for supporting v .18

a tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof and for advancing the tape endwise across the end of said magazine and through said opening with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing said stack, and amember holding said tape in contact with the successive terminal sheets of said stack to join the sheets to the tape in overlapping relation as the tape is advanced, said finger resiliently engaging the sugcessive terminal sheets and permitting the same to be withdrawn one by one through said opening while holding the remaining sheets in said magazine.

5. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets, one side wall of said magazine terminating short of the end thereof to define an opening for the edgewise removal of the end sheet of said stack, means for supporting a tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof and for advancing the tape endwise across the end of said magazine and through said opening with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing said stack,

a member holding said tape in contact with the successive end sheets of said stack to join the sheets to the tape in overlapping relation as the tape is advanced, and a resilient member mounted on the end of said side wall to engage the sheets advanced through said opening and permit the sheets to be removed one at a time from said stack.

6. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets, one side wall of said magazine terminating short of the end thereof to define an opening for the edgewise removal of the end sheet of said stack, means for supporting a tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof and for advancing the tape endwise across the end of said magazine and through said opening with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing said stack, a member holding said tape in contact with the successive end sheets of said stack to join the sheets to the tape in overlapping relation as the tape is advanced, and means for moving said side wall toward and away from the end of said magazine to vary the width of said opening in accordance with the combined thickness of the overlapped sheets.

7. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a magazine for receiving a stack of papers mounted on said base and having an opening in one side adjacent the end thereof to permit the terminal sheets of said stack to be removed edgewise through the opening, a guide disposed adjacent said magazine end between the edges of said terminal sheet, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side with the tape extending over said guide and across the end of said stack and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of said guide and in contact with said terminal sheet, a feeding device operable to advance said tape across said magazine end and move said terminal sheet through said opening and, before the terminal sheet is completely removed from the stack, to expose the next sheet to the tape whereby the successive sheets are joined to the tape in overlapping relation and removed through said opening, said guide being shiftable relative to said magazine toward and away from said opening to vary the overlapping of the sheets, and means for adjusting the width of said opening in accordance with the amount of overlapping to accommodate the different combined thicknesses of the attached sheets.

8. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a magazine for receiving a stack of papers mounted on said base and having'an opening in one side adjacent the end thereof to permit the terminal sheets of said stack to be removed edgewise through the opening, a guide disposed adjacent said magazine end between the edges of said terminal sheet, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side with the tape extending over said guide and across the 6 end of said stack and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of said guide and in contact with said terminal sheet, a feeding device operable to advance said tape across said magazine end and move said terminal sheet through said opening and, before the terminal sheet is completely removed from the stack, to expose the next sheet to the tape whereby the successive sheets are joined to the tape in overlapping relation and removed through said opening, and means supporting said magazine and said guide for relative adjustment along the path of said tape to dispose said guide difierent distances from said opening and thus vary the amount of overlapping of the sheets.

9. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a magazine for receiving a stack of papers mounted on said base and having an opening in one side adjacent the end thereof to permit the terminal sheets of said stack to be removed edgewise through the opening, a guide disposed adjacent said magazine end between the edges of said terminal sheet, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side with the tape extending over said guide and across the end of said stack and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of said guide and in contact with said terminal sheet, and a feeding device operable to advance said tape across said magazine end and move said terminal sheet through said opening and, before the terminal sheet is completely removed from the stack, to expose the next sheet of the tape whereby the successive sheets are joined to the tape in overlapping relation and removed through said opening.

10. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a guide mounted on said base, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side and with the tape extending over said guide and along a predetermined path and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of the guide, a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets disposed adjacent said guide and supporting the terminal sheet of said stack in contact with said tape whereby said terminal sheet is joined to the tape, and means for advancing said tape along said path thereby to move said terminal sheet edgewise with the tape and expose successive sheets to the pressure sensitive side of the tape.

11. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a guide mounted on said base, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side with the tape extending over said guide and along a predetermined path and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of the guide, a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets disposed adjacent said guide and supporting the terminal sheet of said stack in contact with said tape whereby said terminal sheet is joined to the tape, and means for advancing said tape along said path thereby to move said terminal sheet edgewise with the tape and expose successive sheets to the pressure sensitive side of the tape, said guide and said magazine being supported for relative adjustment aiong said path to dispose the guide different distances from the trailing edges of the sheets and vary the amount of overlapping of the sheets attached to said tape.

12. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets in overlapping relation comprising a base, a guide mounted on said base, means for supporting on said base a supply of tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive on one side and with the tape extending over said guide and along a predetermined path and with the pressure sensitive side of the tape facing outwardly of the guide, a magazine for receiving a stack of sheets disposed adjacent said guide and supporting the terminal sheet of said stack in contact with said tape, a member urging said stack toward the pressure sensitive side of said tape whereby said terminal sheet is joined to the tape, and means for advancing said tape along said path thereby to move said terminal sheet edgewisewith the tape and expose suecessive sheets to the pressure sensitive side of the tape.

13'. Mechanism for joining a plurality of sheets comprising a base, means on said base for supporting a supply contact with the pressure sensitive side of said tape, and means for advancing said tape along said path to advance said terminal sheet along the path and expose the next sheet to the pressure sensitive side of the tape whereby the successive sheets are joined to said tape and advanced.

along said pathJ No references cited. 

